


Hylocereus draconus

by agentmoppet



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Astronomy Tower, Late Night Conversations, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 06:38:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10961757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentmoppet/pseuds/agentmoppet
Summary: It starts with noticing someone, and before you know it, they're all you can see.





	Hylocereus draconus

Oliver flew toward the edge of the lake and angled his broomstick up so that very quickly he was soaring higher than the castle itself. Only a few lights were still shining; most of the students and professors were fast asleep.

But even if he was a professor now, he didn’t fancy being caught by McGonagall whilst going on joy rides in the middle of the night. He might not be doing anything wrong, but he couldn’t imagine she’d approve nonetheless, and he didn’t fancy facing her judgement when he was yawning at the breakfast table.

It was only at the last second, as he was landing on the top of the astronomy tower, that he realised he wasn’t alone. He stumbled to a halt, defensive instincts kicking in so that he almost leapt straight back into the air.

The man looked up and smiled. “Hi, Oliver.”

Oliver let out a long breath, panic fading. “Jesus, Neville. You gave me a fright.”

Neville frowned. “Didn’t you know I was here? I followed you up the stairs and waved to you when you took off.”

The wind whistled around their heads as Oliver tried to recall anything about the evening apart from the exhilarating rush of wind and the smooth wood beneath his fingertips.

“Sorry, I must not have seen you.” He pulled an apologetic face and then nodded toward the small table Neville was hunched over. “What are you working on? Something for class?”

“Sort of.” Neville brushed a hand over the leaves of one of the plants on the table and smiled to himself.

For some reason the gesture caught Oliver’s attention. He shook his head and made himself focus back on Neville’s face.

“So it reacts more strongly in the moonlight,” Neville was saying, and Oliver nodded like he understood.

“Well, good luck,” he said, giving Neville a wave and picking up his broomstick.

Neville called good night after him, and he headed to bed.

 

~~~

 

The air was cooler tonight. He could already feel the nip of winter on the breeze, and the stone beneath his feet felt like ice, even through his shoes.

“Going for a fly again?”

Oliver turned around in surprise to see Neville tucked behind the parapet, near the wall. He was huddled in a thick coat, and his tiny table with the plants was set in a pool of moonlight.

“Yeah,” Oliver said with a grin. “Want to come?”

Neville gave a surprised laugh before shaking his head. “Don’t have a broom, and I can’t leave the _Hylocereus_ _draconus_ alone anyway.”

The plant sat uselessly on the table.

Oliver wrinkled his nose. “If you say so. You should cast a warming charm.” He raised his wand.

“No!” Neville held up his hands, taking a step forward almost unconsciously as he did. “There’s a temperature bubble around them — I can’t risk an imbalance.”

The wind gave a fierce howl, ruffling Neville’s hair and making him look like a miserable yeti. Oliver was torn between laughing and conjuring the poor guy a beanie.

He squashed both urges and merely nodded in return. “Well, I’ll see you in a bit.” He waved and set off.

The lawn was showing the first signs of frost, and as Oliver dipped low over the lake it was so still and dark he could see none of the usual signs of life. He felt like the only living thing out here on this cool night, like the rest of the world was frozen in slumber.

He looked up at the astronomy tower, at the tiny sliver of moonlight he could see breaching the stone; so he wasn’t quite alone, then.

Ripples broke the surface of the water, and he swooped upward before the giant squid could surface. He wouldn’t want to inconvenience Neville’s plant-watching with a bit of ill-timed drowning. Not that Neville was likely to hear his screams when he was focused on the Hylo-dragon thing.

Oliver quirked a smile. Neville could be quite strange — he was so focused on his plants sometimes that it was like he didn’t notice anyone else was there.

He took one last loop around the lake before flying back to the tower. Spotting Neville before he landed this time, he dropped to his feet smoothly and walked over.

Neville was kneeling in front of the table, his eyes intent as one of the plants seemed to ripple in the moonlight. Oliver gave the plant a passing glance before turning his attention back to Neville, caught by the wondrous expression on his face.

“What’s happening?” he asked, keeping his voice hushed though he was hardly sure why.

“I think it’s blooming,” Neville whispered back.

Oliver knelt down beside him and looked at the plant. Several minute past where he found his gaze turning more often to Neville than to the strange cactus.

Finally the plant grew still and Neville dropped back with a sigh.

“Not tonight,” he said, giving Oliver a rueful look.

Oliver felt his stomach twist strangely. “Hopefully tomorrow,” he said with a smile. “Do you need help packing anything away?”

Neville shook his head. “I leave them here under some charms during the day. I’ll just wait a bit longer and then head off I think.”

Oliver nodded, unable to think of a reason to stay longer. “Night, then?”

Neville bid him goodnight, and Oliver left, feeling strangely reluctant.

 

~~~

 

Several portraits eyed him suspiciously as he waited around in the corridor below the tower. He had headed up earlier than usual, but Neville wasn’t there yet and he hadn’t wanted to leave.

He shifted from foot to foot, strangely restless, until he saw Neville turn the corner. He pushed away from the wall and pretended he hadn’t been waiting.

“Neville,” he said brightly, half turning as if he’d been walking ahead and only just heard Neville arrive. “Going up again tonight?”

Neville looked up in surprise and smiled. “Flying again? Aren’t you cold?”

Oliver laughed. “Never too cold for flying.” They fell into step together. “Any luck with your plants after I left last night?”

The portraits gave them a knowing look and began to whisper. Oliver frowned at them, confused, but was forced to ignore them when Neville launched into a long and tired explanation of why the plant hadn’t felt safe enough to bloom.

“So what you’re saying is you need a strategy,” Oliver stepped aside for Neville to enter the tower and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Your temperature charms aren’t enough — you need a smart, strong plan of attack.” He punctuated the words with sharp jabs of his finger into the air.

Neville blinked at him, eyes widening. “Er, I guess so? I was going more for a gentle nurturing, but what did you have in mind?”

“What conditions do you need?”

Neville ticked them off one by one on his fingers. “A steady beam of moonlight, fluctuations of no more than three degrees — autumn is best — and a gentle breeze.” He sighed. “That’s the part that isn’t working, I’m afraid. The breeze is too strong, but if I screen them off, there’s no breeze at all.”

Oliver gazed at the moon, thinking about the sort of weather charms he would use to really put his team through the motions.

He gave a slow smile. “I might have an idea.”

After a few careful modifications to a bubble charm so that the plants were shielded from the harsh night air, Oliver twisted his wand in a slow figure-eight, picking up speed until a gentle wind began to swirl around the tower.

“Normally it’s a lot stronger, of course” he explained as they leaned back against the wall to watch. “Don’t want the team getting soft.”

Neville gave him a strange, little smile, like there was some joke he wasn’t getting. “Of course,” he said with a laugh.

He felt himself grinning in response and turned away quickly before he looked too idiotic, managing not to sigh wistfully as he did.

 

~~~

 

“Professor Wood,” McGonagall said as she passed him at the breakfast table. “You’re looking a little pale — are you ill?”

Oliver shook his head, biting down on a smile as he felt Neville look over at them. “No, Professor, just a bit tired.”

She nodded, glancing back at Neville and pursing her lips before moving on. The flowers hadn’t bloomed last night, though they’d waited until close to dawn just in case. Neville assured him it was close and explained that when they did it would be the first time he’d ever been able to pluck the rare petals.

Oliver had almost forgotten what they were talking about by that point; he’d been quite unable to look away from the gentle flush on Neville’s cheeks and nose, and he was too busy trying to decide whether suggesting they share a blanket would come across as unwelcome.

“Tonight,” Neville mouthed to him from across the table, looking just as tired as he felt. 

His heart leapt as he nodded in response.

 

~~~

 

“Are you cold?” Oliver asked as casually as he could manage once they had settled back against the wall, huddled out of reach of the swirling wind charm.

Neville shook his head. “Too excited to be cold,” he said, blowing on his fingers and keeping his eyes on the plants.

His face was lit with excitement, and it made Oliver think of soaring high over the tops of the Forbidden Forest, the first rays of dawn breaking over the leaves.

“Do you think they’ll bloom-” Oliver began, but was cut off by a loud gasp from Neville as he shuffled closer to the table.

“Look,” Neville hissed, pointing at the tiniest cactus in the centre of the table. “Look at its buds!”

Drawn despite himself, Oliver leaned forward and felt his breath catch in his throat as the bud gave a tiny movement, like a sigh, and then unfurled before his eyes.

Neville made a hushed, squealing sound at the back of his throat, grabbing onto Oliver’s shoulder as the rest of the buds began to open. For all Oliver knew, the flowers could have dropped down onto the plants from the sky, because he was too busy watching Neville’s face to see them open.

“It worked,” Oliver said with a laugh, smiling as Neville’s eyes shone with happiness.

“It worked!” Neville turned to him, his face split open in a beaming smile.

Their eyes met, and Neville gave a tiny breath of surprise, his eyebrows shooting upward and his cheeks flushing. Oliver gave a shy smile, trying to convey a question, hope, and patience all in one.

Neville’s smile grew slowly wider, and before Oliver knew what had happened, he was kissing him. He grinned and pulled Neville closer, careful not to bump or upset the plants, and they kissed quietly and gently, the white flowers blooming beside them.

Suddenly they broke apart, twin looks of alarm on their faces. Oliver’s nose wrinkled while Neville looked over at the table in horror.

“Neville,” he said, covering his nose. “Those flowers smell disgusting.”

Neville groaned and waved his hand in front of his face, grimacing.

“Time to go.” Oliver grabbed Neville’s hand and dragged him backward.

They leaped up and ran back down the steps into the corridor, where they fell against each other and dissolved into quiet peals of laughter, hands clasped together and foreheads pressed into each other’s warmth.

**Author's Note:**

> Another one of the rare pair requests from [ tumblr ](http://agentmoppet.tumblr.com) :)


End file.
